MUNCIE, Ind. — At a press conference held at Muncie City Hall, obligatory cuts from Senate Bill 1 were addressed. Standing behind Ridenour were thirteen members of his administration as the mayor talked about his draft for the 2026 annual budget, expected to be reviewed by city council throughout the month of September.

A total of $1,436,096.02 will be made in cuts. According to Ridenour’s announcement, Muncie Property Revenues will go down 6.6%, Fire Pension Fund by 5.38%, Police Pension Fund by 8.35%, Parks by 6.34%, and Beech Grove Cemetery by 6.17%. EDIT funds will have $800K cut and an additional $100k from other areas. Some full-time positions will become part-time, though it’s not currently announced which positions. Additionally, City Hall will be experiencing a hiring freeze, excluding public safety and public works.

There is currently no full draft of the budget posted on the City of Muncie website or agenda for the next council meeting. Multiple Finance Committee meetings will be taking place between Sept. 3rd and 23rd.

Last year the annual budget of 2025 was submitted late, along with several missing pages that caused a clash with a then-Democrat majority city council. When asked at the press conference about how he intended to work with council this year, Ridenour said the delays in filing this year are “not ideal” but stated that another individual involved in filing documents was in an emergency room that morning.

Ridenour was asked if LIT (Local Income Tax) would go up, at which point he acknowledged that in 2028 there would be an increase made due to the decrease of property taxes made by SB 1. Council-member Nora Powell asked the mayor if there would by any impact on current contract negotiations. Ridenour responded that a 4% increase will be in the draft for city employees not including public safety, but won’t be guaranteed the following year.